Yay Bacteria! Or how I learned to use less soap and water

How much soap do we waste each day? I took a shower today for the first time in six or seven days. Ever since I had my spinal stimulator trial put in I have not showered. Are you freaked out or disgusted!? Well, push that thought aside if you can please! I want to share my thoughts about what I have learned from my experience.When I was in the shower today I thought to myself; wow I'm using shampoo wash for my head for the first time in a week. I don't smell bad either. Let's go over some thoughts.

How much soap do you use each time you shower? Whoa, and how much soap to the soap companies want us to buy each year? That's a rhetorical question because the obvious answer is they want us to buy a lot! Boy I could get into the commercialism of our society right now couldn't I? Think about it! Do a mental pivot now and think about the notion of what clean means! Clean and sanitary hospitals clean and “sanitary” bathrooms! We don't even think about our phones so much but they are way more contaminated than our toilets! Well, usually, I mean sometimes we see some really nasty brown toilets or splatter on the walls or on the toilets. Ugh. Maybe that's a little dirtier than our phones ;). The whole notion of cleanliness has been sold to us. But think about our clean industrialized nation, we don't think about the fact that people in India come over here and rarely have a cold for the first year that they are here. Their immune systems are strong. Their immune systems are strong because their bodies naturally deal with more bacteria all the time. Our bodies are not trained in this way because we have the thought that bacteria are all bad. But we have to change the paradigm. I understand that you kind of have to train ourselves against bacteria much like we might lift weights at the gym so that we feel stronger and are stronger. Extreme cleanliness is like getting fake biceps to show that we are strong... but that's  the point, though we may look clean (a supposed strength), we're not really strong.

So let's get back to the issue of soap and water usage when we take showers or baths.

I could surely come up with an estimate of how much soap is used based on purchase records as a nation and get all into that mathematical  wizardry and statistics, but is that really the point? The real issue is how much as an individual can we promote healthy bacteria on our body to protect our body and, hey, save on soap and water! You might argue, “well what's the harm of using a lot of soap?” Besides the industrial processes involved, the amount of environmental emissions that can be created or the potential harm that phosphates do to our water supply because, remember, water comes from rivers from the clouds, from the ocean. It's all a cycle. So maybe we can agree by now that usage of soap creates a certain amount of environmental impact. Don't make me out to be a hippie, and I'm not trying to create some sort of complex of guilt from our use of resources. It's a very honest assessment that our very existence uses the earth and I think we have to use it wisely; that's all.

So what do we do to use less soap?  Well maybe by making sure just to apply it to the dirty parts of the body. You know the pits, crotch and butt! I know you might not believe me and frankly for those who sweat a lot I don't know if that's the answer. But in my fairly sedentary lifestyle of late I'm giving this lack of showering a go.

It's been very interesting this past week going without showers and just sponge bathing.  It's true that I don't feel that squeaky-clean field, but maybe that doesn't matter. Maybe I'm just thinking that I'm supposed to be squeaky clean  and then get dirty soon again...  I know we didn't evolve with soap. I know my dad took tub baths outside on the farm. I know the luxury of showering in a personally dedicated spot hasn't been around for common people for thousands of years. I can imagine right now that people may have showered in natural mini waterfalls. Are we inherently more correct today and we were in the past? Right now I'm just trying to give you some food for thought about showering much less or at least using less soap.

I read that the bacteria that go on your body are best able to help protect you, because, after all, you are alive with whatever mix of bacteria you have in you. If the bacteria in you on a sum total basis was bad for you, your body wouldn't thrive. You'd be like a dead body in the ground the game with bad bacteria eating you with no bacteria that support your hemostasis because there's no longer a living body to support human friendly bacteria. But… by thriving I also allude to skin conditions. Maybe, just maybe, some skin conditions can be alleviated by it. I may or may not have read that one, you should do some research on it yourself if this applies to you.

So, in all, I showered today, mostly just soap on critical areas. I didn't even get much soap on my back. And guess what? I feel fine. My hair is short but frankly it feels fine. Would you like to try it? What have you got to lose just cleaning those critical areas? See if it makes a different, if you feel better or worse? Maybe all you will do is save resources. Take your journey with it. If it doesn't work, well, you can always, well... shower. :)